The question of the week... and of a lifetime...

A question from the peanut gallery:

Do you feel as crazed and stressed as I do with work, two kids and all of these activities going on?

I remember, before I had kids, how people with kids would say, "I have no idea what I did all day without kids..." I never understood what they meant.

Now I do.

Between the morning routine of getting them to two different day cares, then picking them up in the evening, I am constantly on the move. Drop one off, pick one up, trade one for the other, take one with to pick up the other one, get a babysitter for one while going with the other, enforce man-to-man defense when a babysitter isn't available, grab the Baby Bjorn to so the whole family can go, trade off who carries the baby, take turns eating dinner, bathe one without running out of hot water to bathe the second, get them both to sleep...

And then there are the activities: soccer, gymnastics, doctor appointments, the dentist, Dad needs a haircut, birthday parties, shopping for birthday parties, the grocery store, nap schedules, bottle warming, diaper changing, dinner at the Grandparents', dinner at a restaurant because the grocery store didn't happen, riding scooters, laundry, and, of course, the final season of LOST.

I have a vague memory of my pre-parent life: the biggest thing I remember is having no immediate need for a DVR.

Could be worse, I suppose... we could be in the position of desperately wanting children and just not being able to make it happen.